Farmers market: Tangerines are big attraction at the market

Anne Kallas/Special to The Star
Ojai Pixies are here and are being sold at the Churchill Orchards booth or at the Friends Ranch booth at the Ojai farmers market. This year's crop is about two to three weeks late, which Jim Churchill said may be the result of the stormy weather so far this spring.

Anne Kallas/Special to The Star
English bush peas were new to the market at the booth of Cortez Farms of Santa Maria, which were being sold at the Ojai farmers market. Emmanuel Perez said this is the first crop of English peas they have grown, and he was interested to see how they sell compared with the sugar snap peas, which were also available.

Anne Kallas/Special to The Star
Fresh spinach bundles were on sale at the Cortez Farms booth out of Santa Maria at the Ojai farmers market where Emmanuel Perez was also selling fresh strawberries and blueberries, along with a wide variety of other seasonal produce.

In Ventura County, eating tangerines is always a seasonal adventure as the various varieties make their way to the farmers markets. From the Ojai farmers market, we've been devouring the Kishus, Page, Dancy, Tahoe Gold and Murcott tangerines, weighing their relative merits and deficiencies. The Kishus weren't as pine-y as they were last year, and while the Dancys were sweet, they have seeds.

But all comparison fades when the Ojai Pixies come to market. The Ojai Pixies are known by locals as the tangerine by which all the others are measured — sweet, seedless and this year late. "Everything is two to three weeks late all over the valley," said Jim Churchill of Churchill Orchards. He said he has just started selling Pixies at the Ojai farmers market, where he will run a booth until about the second or third week in May, while Friends Ranch in Ojai has been serving up the Pixies for about five weeks.

"Were they worth the wait? That's up to the customer to decide," Churchill said.

At the booth of Cortez Farms of Santa Maria, Emmanuel Perez was selling the first crop of English bush peas. "We've never sold these before. I'll have to see how they do," he said. At the Marcie's Pies produce booth, Deanna Duffy was selling cherry Victoria rhubarb, which she said grows year-round at their Santa Ynez ranch and is used in their pies.